Carrots Are The Best Vegetables

Chapter Four

He hated that she was hurt, and he could relate... he was an orphan now, and that fact still hadn't fully revealed itself to him. "Happy Birthday, Gilbert... I don't know when your actual birthday is, but since I probably missed it, happy birthday." Anne smiled. 
    She had become much more reserved during the days since she had been stabbed, and Gilbert fumed at Billy for that. When she eventually came back next week... if he tried anything... Gilbert didn't want to think about that. He knew situations easily escalated when he was involved, and didn't want that to reflect badly on Anne, like when she struck him with her board. 
    "Anne... thank you. My birthday is actually at the end of the month, so thank you." Gilbert smiled, and once again hugged the girl, who was still leaning her head against his broad shoulders. "I'll bring you some of our apples tomorrow, as a real 'thank you.'" 
    "Oh, that's okay, I don't want to affix you anymore work, especially with the harvest coming and stuff." Gilbert smiled softly to himself at Anne's concern, as if he was the one lying in bed, injured and shot. 
    "Affix? How do you spell that word?" Gilbert knitted his eyebrows joyously as Anne began to spell out the letters in a small, quiet voice. She was no longer crying, but her eyes were still red and puffy, and her hands were still shaking a little bit, but he was holding them with gentle security. 
"A, F, F, I-" 

"X." Gilbert finished with a smirk. "Maybe we should tell Ms. Stacy to have our spelling bee's again." Gilbert propositioned with a smile. He caused Anne to smile... her laugh was so pretty. 

"Who knows, maybe since I've been absent, Moody's studied his words." Anne smiled, flashing her pearly, white teeth. Gilbert chuckled and brushed his finger against Anne with a thumping heart. "Though, that doesn't seem likely now that I'm reflecting on it." 

"Anyway..." 
"Anyway..." Gilbert replied with a small smile that almost immediately disappeared. There was a tense silence between them that seemed to last an eternity, until the door blasted open, and two giggles stormed in. 

"ANNE!" Diana and Ruby squealed as they jumped onto Anne, not realizing how dangerous and risky that was. Cole walked slowly behind with a smile when he saw Anne alive and breathing, until she was eclipsed by Diana and Ruby squeezing Anne, and then a concerned light appeared in his eyes.

Gilbert immediately got up and tried to pry them off, since he heard Anne's cry of pain when they hit her, but Diana and Ruby's laughs deafened them. 

"Diana, Ruby, get off!" Gilbert warned, and (with Cole's desperate help) finally pulled them from Anne, who was now leaning against the pillow in a pained expression. Gilbert kneeled next to Anne on the floor-boards in a panicked expression. "Anne are you okay?" 

Diana and Ruby stood behind Gilbert in guilty and apologetic expressions. Cole lingered behind, since he hadn't done anything, as Anne took a few seconds to breath through her teeth, and kept her eyes trained on Gilbert. "I'm okay, Gilbert; don't fret yourself." She smirked, and Gilbert visually breathed and stepped back for Diana and Ruby to apologize. 

"We're sorry, Anne. We didn't realize how bad it was." Ruby stepped forward glumly with her silk pink gloves rubbing together anxiously, as Diana repeated the same thing as well. 

"It's fine... actually, I hoped you guys would come. We haven't had a meeting in so long! Cole, you could take a couple of my pencils for sketching, I know it's harder with a pen..." 

"Thanks, Anne." Cole accepted the pencils from Anne's hand (Anne had a pile resting on her bureau, since she'd had them there since she wrote her letter to Gilbert) with a shy smile, as Gilbert rested on the foot of the some-what long bed. "Are you feeling better?" 

"Yes, I feel much better... plus, Gilbert's been keeping me caught up with school, so everything will be back to normal when I get back," Anne smiled at Gilbert before returning her gaze to Diana, Cole, and Ruby.